It’s no secret that in New York City, BigLaw is Big Business. Law firms occupy 10% of the city’s commercial office space, hosting thousands of employees across millions of square feet. One need not be a managing partner to know that a firm spends a significant portion of its annual budget on heating, cooling and powering its space.

It may not be so well known that buildings account for approximately 70% of New York City’s greenhouse gas emissions – a total of more than 13 million metric tons of carbon dioxide equivalent per year are emitted by commercial and industrial buildings in the five boroughs. These emissions contribute to the build-up of greenhouse gases in the atmosphere, posing a dire threat to the health of our planet and to our coastal, low-lying city.